No new taxes proposed in MCD budget

NEW DELHI, February 17: No new taxes have been proposed in the budget presented by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today. Additiona...

NEW DELHI, February 17: No new taxes have been proposed in the budget presented by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today. Additional water tariffs proposed by the MCD Commissioner were also rejected by the house. Members of the opposition boycotted the meeting of the house in protest against the constitution of the water board. In a series of hurried meetings, the standing committee and the House scraped through the budget which determines the rates at which various municipal taxes are to be levied. The MCD’s standing committee met in the morning, where the statement of proposed taxes was placed.

According to the rules, the budget has to be discussed by February 15, but because of the general elections, it had to be postponed. The commissioner, had in accordance with the provisions, submitted the proposals to the municipal secretary on December 12 last year but they were kept in a sealed cover till now.

In urban areas, property tax rates are between 10 to 20 per cent of the rateable value incase of residential properties and between 10 to 30 per cent in case of non-residential properties.

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The rateable value is calculated on the basis of cost of construction and cost of construction in case of residential properties. In case of commercial properties, rateable value is ten per cent of the annual rent. In rural areas, no tax is levied on self-occupied residential properties. However, the residential properties which are on rent are taxed at the rate of three per cent of the rateable value and non-residential at the rate 4.5 per cent. Prompt payment of taxes will ensure a 20 per cent rebate.

Under the rates of Advertisement Tax and Theatre Tax, Rs 200 per year will have to be paid for a 200 square feet hoarding, Rs seven per show for a Class-II cinema hall and Rs 10 per show for a Class-I cinema hall.

The rate of transfer duty is five per cent of the sale consideration while electricity tax is five per cent of the charge for electric supply.

A hike has been effected in the tax rate ofcycle-rickshaws. It has been raised from Rs six to Rs 50 per year.

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The Commissioner V.K.Duggal also proposed a hike in water tariffs, which would have generated Rs 200 crore for the corporation. Reminding the house of the resource crunch, he pointed out that the current revenue generation of Rs 100 crore was unable to meet the expenditure of the water department.

However, the proposal was rejected by the house. Leader of the house, Shanti Desai said that corporation could not burden the citizens and had to think of alternative measures to generate resource.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Dr Narendra Nath said that the opposition members would continue their boycott till the water board was brought back under the jurisdiction of the MCD.